The Crown of Charlemagne was destroyed in the French Revolution, like almost all of mediaeval regalia. Only Louis XV's crown, and the mediaeval Joyeuse, the coronation sword of the French kings, the sceptre (so called Hand of Justice), the Ampulla (Sainte Ampoule) and the 14th century sceptre of Charles V survived.

The emblem of the Order is said to have been made in 962 for the coronation of Otto the Great or for his son Otto II as co-emperor in 967.